Originally Posted by Marshall

From reading all of the posts you can probably tell two things. First, there's no universally accepted way to get big arms. And second, you can score with chicks at Starbuck's (which is true by the way).

I have a dedicated arm day but I also work tri's on chest day. So, Saturday is chest day. Once I'm done with chest I'll do 5 sets of headbangers and then 5 sets of close-grip bench press both 10-12 reps.

On arm day (Wednesday), I used to do straight bar curls but hurt my forearm and it's never been the same. So now I use the e-z curl bar and do 5 sets of 10-12 with whatever weight I can handle. It varies based on arm pain. I follow that with incline alt db's 3 x 10-12 and finally preacher for the same. My fav bicep exercise (other than straight bar) is incline alt db curls. For tri's I do pushdowns for 5 x 10-12, weighted dips for the same and then I finish with 1-arm pushdowns 3 x 10-12(I use the cable-crossover handles).

My arms were at there best back when I kicked off arm day with straight bar curls. But I had to adapt. What I'm doing may not work for everyone but it works for me. Just play around with a bunch of different exercises and find what works best. When it seems to stop working then change it up.

Good Luck Building The Guns!!

thanks man. Of course there is no universally accepted way to grow guns, but I was just wondering what people who have nicely developed arms have done to get them.

pudzian, screw the arms, I'd like to know what you did to get that back!

Originally Posted by AM07

pudzian, screw the arms, I'd like to know what you did to get that back!

hahah thanks man. anyway my advice to you is as follows: COMPOUND MOVEMENTS. bent over barbell rows, dumbell 1 arm rows (sometimes I superset the two when my Cardiovascular system is in good shape and i can handle it). heavy rows, pull downs (both grip styles) and T bar rows.--deadlifts help to recruit fibers for growth (do them on a different day tho. -the bent over rows will cover these necessary angles on back day)

bent over rows are a necessity. When coupled with t-bar/1 or 2 arm DB rows and cable rows you have a solid foundation

Originally Posted by Reaper329

bent over rows are a necessity. When coupled with t-bar/1 or 2 arm DB rows and cable rows you have a solid foundation

agreed.

****** synthol

The only thing that builds my arms are triple ascending weight sets, and triple drops. Try it, you will have bigger fuller arms in weeks. Just work it into your routine. Obviously you can't do all your sets this way, but you can do one for bis, tris, and delts each week, coupled with various other arm movements. Once you feel the wrath of the triple, you'll never do single sets again.

Originally Posted by LilPsychotic

The only thing that builds my arms are triple ascending weight sets, and triple drops. Try it, you will have bigger fuller arms in weeks. Just work it into your routine. Obviously you can't do all your sets this way, but you can do one for bis, tris, and delts each week, coupled with various other arm movements. Once you feel the wrath of the triple, you'll never do single sets again.

ive done those before. It may be time to incorporate them again

Heavy weight is not the key to building arms. Moderate weight with giant sets and triples have my arms bigger than they've ever been.

Originally Posted by LilPsychotic

Heavy weight is not the key to building arms. Moderate weight with giant sets and triples have my arms bigger than they've ever been.

i usually train for blood volume anyway. not weight. its true tho-what your saying. at least it works that way for me. plus my arms wont grow unless im putting on weight with the bigger muscle groups (of course) so it seems focussing more on arms to make them grow is useless. they need stimuli, but its best to put more focus on the bigger muscles

Originally Posted by LilPsychotic

Heavy weight is not the key to building arms. Moderate weight with giant sets and triples have my arms bigger than they've ever been.

For some heavy weight is needed to build arms. Its all very subjective. What works for you may do **** all for another. I need to lift heavy to get growth out of my arms, I have tried the light weight superset approach and it did nothing. It's funny because high volume did nothing for arms but did wonders for my quads, I was doing like 70 rep sets for quads on the leg press. Its all just ****ed up.

Originally Posted by SteelEntity

For some heavy weight is needed to build arms. Its all very subjective. What works for you may do **** all for another. I need to lift heavy to get growth out of my arms, I have tried the light weight superset approach and it did nothing. It's funny because high volume did nothing for arms but did wonders for my quads, I was doing like 70 rep sets for quads on the leg press. Its all just ****ed up.

i agree with your last sentence haha

me 2....jesus that last sentence the most true thing i have heard about BB'ing to date.

Originally Posted by pudzian2

ohhhhh da beebab......yea man. Im going to do this:

1-Im going to train quads with triceps and
2-Hams with biceps.
(the compound movement for the larger muscle first)...the more muscle fiber I activate the more growth. Arms grow proportionally, so I need to put on weight and size to get them to grow. I will use my slin 3x per week after each of those workouts and also after my chest workout.

I think training a lagging part with a large muscle group will help stimulate growth

Now isn't THIS a familiar philosophy

Over the past 6 weeks, I've reluctantly been running HST routines. Honestly, I was bored out of my mind until I put the tape on my arms. I gained 1/4 to both arms while dropping about 1-2% bf (I'm guessing by looking in the mirror but I haven't technically gotten the skinfolds redone yet). Supplements include a run of the mill nha stack.

Anyway, I run 1 warm up set then 2 working sets and just 1 exercise per muscle group per session. If you're not familiar with HST, you perform 3 full body workouts per week... so only 6 working sets per week. Sounds puny but it's fantastic so far.

In HST, you use the "progressive load" theory with TUT. The progressive load is what makes TUT work. I ran TUT with MaxOT style routines and I got strong but fat without much lean mass gains. Some there is some good reasoning behind TUT but only seems to be under specific circumstances.

Edit: Now that I think of it, that 1/4 inch just got me to 17 inches so I'm not sure how much weight my advice carries in this department

Originally Posted by celc5

Now isn't THIS a familiar philosophy

Over the past 6 weeks, I've reluctantly been running HST routines. Honestly, I was bored out of my mind until I put the tape on my arms. I gained 1/4 to both arms while dropping about 1-2% bf (I'm guessing by looking in the mirror but I haven't technically gotten the skinfolds redone yet). Supplements include a run of the mill nha stack.

Anyway, I run 1 warm up set then 2 working sets and just 1 exercise per muscle group per session. If you're not familiar with HST, you perform 3 full body workouts per week... so only 6 working sets per week. Sounds puny but it's fantastic so far.

In HST, you use the "progressive load" theory with TUT. The progressive load is what makes TUT work. I ran TUT with MaxOT style routines and I got strong but fat without much lean mass gains. Some there is some good reasoning behind TUT but only seems to be under specific circumstances.

Edit: Now that I think of it, that 1/4 inch just got me to 17 inches so I'm not sure how much weight my advice carries in this department

hey man. yea familiar they are. BTW everyone, i credit Celc for helping me with training. great advice. it really works. i mean its weird and f'ed up becuase if you just work biceps you will not obtain big biceps necessarily. the body won't want to grow them just make them stronger..... but if you squat, deadlift, bench press, dip and row, in conjunction with some arm work, they will be sure to grow. damn...luckily I've been doing these core movements since the beginning.

as for HST. I have tried it once. I didnt give it a fair shot. I think I did it for 2-3 weeks. my first go around wasn't too successful. I actually felt like I got smaller. (then again I pudzified the routine and probably over trained). The workouts are much harder than they look. anyway i may give it another go around......

and celc: nice work with that 1/4 in! doesn't sound like much but for arms thats significant! good work bro

Originally Posted by pudzian2

then again I pudzified the routine and probably over trained

I was doing EXACTLY the same thing when I first started following HST with my own tweaking and such. I started making adjustments by the end of the first week and I reluctantly moved more TOWARD the HST "rules" rather than my own. I'm still not sure that I totally buy all the theories that this philosophy throws at you but I'm happy with how it's helping me break through a plateau body comp wise.

I have a feeling that it will be more successful the second time around with more lean mass with more sound preparation in terms of gauging each RM more accurately. Weights were a lot lighter for power moves because of a mild work injury in October... in a sense, HST was my rehab program

I've been tossing around the idea of using HST for lagging body parts in conjunction of more traditional routines for my phera cycle in January

Originally Posted by celc5

I was doing EXACTLY the same thing when I first started following HST with my own tweaking and such. I started making adjustments by the end of the first week and I reluctantly moved more TOWARD the HST "rules" rather than my own. I'm still not sure that I totally buy all the theories that this philosophy throws at you but I'm happy with how it's helping me break through a plateau body comp wise.

I have a feeling that it will be more successful the second time around with more lean mass with more sound preparation in terms of gauging each RM more accurately. Weights were a lot lighter for power moves because of a mild work injury in October... in a sense, HST was my rehab program

I've been tossing around the idea of using HST for lagging body parts in conjunction of more traditional routines for my phera cycle in January

to me the ideal use of HST could be when we want to avoid over training by all means...such as PCT. I wonder if it will help one maximize gains on gear (if using mentzer's theories to an extent. less training more rest, harder training per workout). I mean i dont see most pros using these methods. The old school style training seems to work best with gear for obvious reasons. beat urself up in the gym.. take recovery drugs.....

I'm going to start adding an am day to my routine. Now, I just have random ass days when I lift and do random exercises. On weekends, I'm goign to add an arm day, just to see if it helps.

Get strong. Heavy bench work, heavy lockout work. Triceps are such a huge part of the arm and neglected often by those that maintain they aren't powerlifters/etc. Everyone needs bigger triceps, it's the right thing to do. Mine are about 19-1/4" cold and relaxed.

Originally Posted by Chance1253

Get strong. Heavy bench work, heavy lockout work. Triceps are such a huge part of the arm and neglected often by those that maintain they aren't powerlifters/etc. Everyone needs bigger triceps, it's the right thing to do. Mine are about 19-1/4" cold and relaxed.

nice bro. yea bigger tri's make the arm so much bigger than trying to focus on growing biceps. Plus you are right. I've starting doing alot more compound work like deads, squats, (cant flat bench becuase it doesnt get along with my joints), but shrugs, incline bench etc. I've noticed its the best way to get strong as ****, and to build overall mass. I mean thats the only way the arms will grow. Its good to isolate them a bit to, but you cant get them to grow disproportionately to the rest of your body by isolating them.

Blast Your Brachialis For Arm Mass
Bob Myhal

The brachialis is an upper arm muscle that runs from humerus to the ulna . . . the majority of the brachialis is therefore under the biceps. This is significant because intelligent training and the subsequent growth of the brachialis will not only add mass to the arms, but also will actually push the biceps peak higher.

This isn’t to say that just training the brachialis will result in the big guns you’re looking for, as some would have you believe. As usual, the truth is a bit more complex than that.

You see, the brachialis is a relatively small muscle. The biceps is certainly bigger; therefore, in some respects it’s the overall shape and size of the biceps themselves that gives you that awesome front upper arm look that most everyone in the gym is after.

Some of this has to do with intelligent training and not overtraining (which is easy to do with arms), some with genetics—certain bodybuilders are just born with the potential to develop the high peak shape of the biceps that most of us are after.

But if you’re neglecting the brachialis in your training, you’re likely not getting nearly the type of arm development you should be.

I like to do some targeted brachialis training either with or immediately following my direct biceps work. I generally alternate between my three favorite brachialis exercises—standing hammer curls; seated, incline hammer curls; and low-pulley hammer curls with the rope—from one upper arm workout to the next.

As you can probably tell, I’m a big fan of hammer curls—I absolutely love the movement, and when performed properly it can add mass and shape to the upper arms like nothing else. Reverse grip curls also hit the brachialis . . . though I tend to feel the bulk of the stress with reverse grip curls in the forearms and usually save them for my forearm training. [Note: Reverse grip curls can put a lot of stress on your wrists, so I don’t suggest them for anyone who’s had a wrist injury or any significant wrist pain].

Here’s some brief detail on the three hammer curl movements that make up the bulk of my brachialis training:

Standing Dumbbell Hammer Curls

I do these a little differently than most to really maximize the stress on the brachialis. In a standing position, grasp moderate weight dumbbells in each hand. Begin with your arms extended down in front of your body, palms facing in towards your thighs. Perform the movement by alternating arms. Curl your right arm up across your body. Keep your palm facing your body at all times. At the top of the motion your right arm should be directly in front of your left shoulder (for added emphasis, you can supinate your wrist by turning your palm up towards the ceiling in the top position). Now lower your right arm slowly to the starting position and perform the movement with your left arm.

I generally work in the 6-10 rep range for each arm, and I prefer to use moderate weights on this exercise and really do the movement slowly, concentrating on form throughout.

Seated, Incline Hammer Curls

Sit on an incline bench with about a 45° angle with dumbbells in each arm and arms fully extended at the side. Keep your palms facing in towards the bench. Make sure you keep your upper arms as still as possible while you curl the dumbbells straight up. Your wrists should remain locked in position with the palms facing in towards each other. Remember, this is not your standard dumbbell curl where you actually want to supinate the wrists extensively—keep your palms locked in the hammer position here.

This movement can be done by alternating arms—as with standing hammer curls—but with the seated, incline version I prefer to work both arms simultaneously in a nice, steady rhythm.

Originally Posted by Hank Vangut

Blast Your Brachialis For Arm Mass
Bob Myhal

That's a good read.

I like to train back and forearms... ie EZ reverse curls and DB hammers (elbow flexion exercises where biceps is less of a focus)

then I have a seperate day for lats and bis... ie BB curls and incline OR preacher curls.

I do the classic tri's with chest and bi's with back but throw in an arm day. for the bi's i do 2-4 lifts depending on how the tendons feel. 1-2 high rep low wieght after 1-2 low rep high wieght.

for low rep/high wieght:
flat bar curls 3 sets 8 reps
hammer curls 3 sets 6 reps

for high rep/low wieght:
cable curls (using pull down rope) 4 sets 15 reps then til failure on the last set

concentration curls (with dumbbell) 4 sets 12 reps or failure


i'm not that good of testiment to size seeing as how i started college at 6'1'' 155lb and am now only 200lbs 4 years later but my arms are right at 17" where i seem to be stuck. hopefully the superdrol i'm on now helps that tho

Vince Gironda Drag Curl

I don't see the benefit of that style, I imagine it involves more forearm work.

Originally Posted by SteelEntity

I don't see the benefit of that style, I imagine it involves more forearm work.

If you do them palms down it hits the forearm.

The benefit is that all of the work is done by the bicep proper. The shoulders (which to some extent come into play on normal curls no matter how strict you make the movement) are not activated and at the top of the movement at the contraction the biceps are under stress because the elbows remain back (again unlike normal curls).

The reason you don't see more people doing them is that you must use a bit less weight then traditional curls. Also the negative portion should be sloooow which really fatigues those biceps...most guys don't like the pain.

It is difficult to visualize what a great exercise this is until you have tried them...then you understand.

I posted this because I was thinking back to a time many years ago when my biceps where stalled at just under 18 inches and I made no progress no matter what I did despite the fact that I was making great gains everywhere else. It was very frustrating...in fact my triceps where growing so my biceps must have actually been shrinking!

Fortunately I discovered Vince Gironda and tried out both his "perfect curl" and the "drag curl" and man did they work, especially the drag curl. My biceps began to grow again and thanks to Vince they hit 19 inches (no cheat just flexed and measured straight around) w/ single digit bodyfat!

i once say a youtube video of charles glass training big gunter schlierkamp prior to a show. He had G lay chest down on an incline bench with arms hanging. He would then hold on to a bar (EZ or straight) and curl with the arms hanging down like that. I have tried it. It requires using much less weight, but its ALL BICEP.

Originally Posted by datBtrue

If you do them palms down it hits the forearm.

The benefit is that all of the work is done by the bicep proper. The shoulders (which to some extent come into play on normal curls no matter how strict you make the movement) are not activated and at the top of the movement at the contraction the biceps are under stress because the elbows remain back (again unlike normal curls).

The reason you don't see more people doing them is that you must use a bit less weight then traditional curls. Also the negative portion should be sloooow which really fatigues those biceps...most guys don't like the pain.

It is difficult to visualize what a great exercise this is until you have tried them...then you understand.

I posted this because I was thinking back to a time many years ago when my biceps where stalled at just under 18 inches and I made no progress no matter what I did despite the fact that I was making great gains everywhere else. It was very frustrating...in fact my triceps where growing so my biceps must have actually been shrinking!

Fortunately I discovered Vince Gironda and tried out both his "perfect curl" and the "drag curl" and man did they work, especially the drag curl. My biceps began to grow again and thanks to Vince they hit 19 inches (no cheat just flexed and measured straight around) w/ single digit bodyfat!

I love Gironda's stuff. He had some wacky ideas, but damn if it doesn't work. He was ahead of his time and was the 'go to' guy for lots of people.